Is a Snowmobile Racing Across a Tundra
by die kaiserin
Summary: One shining summer day, her brother passes away. He slips unnoticed between her desperation and hysteria and maybe she should have held on tighter, the way a falling man holds on to a ledge. Vaguely Orihime/Ichigo.


**Is a Snowmobile Racing Across a Tundra**  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Orihime watches Ichigo.  
**Notes:** My first Bleach fanfiction. How nostalgic. It seems I can only finish a story for Bleach when I write for a contest, as this was written for the **2007 FLOL Spring Contest**. Considering the next one I'll write is on Valentines 2009, that's pretty pathetic, huh? I've always wanted to rewrite this a bit but I'm not good at writing OR editing so nothing ever came out of that. This was written to satisfy my curiosity regarding how Ichigo knew about Orihime's hairpins as well as how their first meeting went. Everything else is trite because I'm not imaginative enough, haha! I hope you can forgive my shortcomings and find enjoyment for this short piece. I wish I could write Orihime better. Hopefully one day, I'll do her justice.

* * *

**Is a Snowmobile Racing Across a Tundra**  
by the Green-ish Hue Ranger

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One shining summer day, her brother passes away. He slips unnoticed between her desperation and hysteria and maybe she should have held on tighter, like the way a falling man holds on to a ledge.

Her brother stops breathing without having to fall, and she couldn't even say good-bye.

.x.

Later, when her back hurts from sitting and shadows cover the ground, a boy comes and sits by her side. He places a glass of water on her hand and she becomes consumed by the memory of six-pointed hairpins being place there in he same manner. The guilt comes in waves, dark like choking.

She must have said something because he looks at her like he knows exactly how she's feeling. The feeling of having your life uprooted, of losing the center of your world. I'll get crushed, she thinks. The center cannot hold like this.

When he places a hand on top of her head, the familiarity breaks the spell. The tears fall without her consent and she realizes, So he's a big brother too.

The take care's and the welcome back's; the Friday-takeouts; sweets from the market; visits to the amusement park; the contrast of his pale skin against his black uniform; his profile as he leaves the house. This boy still has everything.

_Everything._

Everything Orihime will never have again.

.x.

On Wednesday, Sayako pushes her hard against the wall, scratching her elbow and arm in the process. She goes down to the supermarket to buy disinfectants and runs into the boy from the clinic.

She watches him speak to thin air. She blinks to clear her vision, but there's no other way to describe it. "You should try to move on soon," he says, "It would be better than this place."

For a moment, she wants to believe it. Could you speak to my brother for me? she almost asks. Tell him to visit me sometime, that I miss him. I can cook curry when he comes, even if he can't eat anymore.

The wind picks up, beats her short hair around mercilessly. Her elbow stings.

She clutches her hands to her chest and leaves.

.x.

Orihime chances upon him again when she takes the long short-cut by the river. He's still talking to thin air and he looks like a punk with his bleached hair. His eyebrows are furrowed like he's mad at the world.

"If I cared what people thought, I would have dyed my hair a long time ago," she hears him say.

She wishes, for a whole heartbeat, that she can be that strong.

.x.

Her name is Tatsuki and she's my new best friend. I want her to be with me forever! We've planned to go to the festival together, so I'll bring home those treats you like. I can't wear a kimono, though. I have no one to help me! You know, I don't think I'll live with Aunt, after all. It's very nice here and I'm very happy.

I'm very happy here, Brother.

.x.

"I didn't know you know him."

"That's because I don't."

"You just _know_, somehow, that his hair isn't bleached like everyone says or that his frown is ever-present."

"Yup."

"Orihime . . . "

"I don't _know_ him. It's just that our first meeting was unforgettable."

"Oh? Really?"

"Yup!" Orihime smiles. "We watched the world end," she says simply.

.x.

She feels like she's been watching him forever. But when they finally meet again, she can't even pay him attention.

It's the second day of highschool and she's close to hyperventilating. One of her hairpins is missing and she's contemplated turning the whole school over its head to find it. She's going to cry, she's sure of it, and she can't even ask Tatsuki for help. Not in their classroom and not in the girl's locker room. Nowhere in the places she's been in that she recalls.

When they meet again, she can't even pay him attention. It takes him three repetitions for her to hear him.

"Hey, what's the matter?"

I lost it. Why am I so stupid. I can't believe I'm so careless. Please help me.

They search the whole school for near three hours. When they find it, she breaks down and cries. She cradles the ornament like she's afraid they'll vanish.

"My brother gave them to me," she says brokenly.

"Ah," he says. "Must be important, huh?"

It is, she wants to say. Because . . . how can I make you see this? How can I make you understand?

"He gave them to me."

He looks at her like he's remembering something and she wonders if he'll finally remember who she is.

Then he smiles, just a little bit. The frown on his face eases and his furrowed eyebrows smoothes. "They look nice."

Orihime . . . likes the way he looks right now. She doesn't dislike his normal look either, with his scary scowls and angry frowns, but this look seems quite nice. She would like to see it more often.

"Yes," she says. "Thank you very much, Kurosaki-kun."

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**08 May 2010:** Edited because FFNet killed the formatting. It's not in the news, though. ...or maybe it was and I am just being a scatter-brain. Always a posibility! Didn't change anything at all because I am really lacking in editing skills, but at least it has it's breaks now. Hopefully it won't be erased again.

(05142007 . 796 words)


End file.
